System and method to control access to hazardous machines

ABSTRACT

A system and method for controlling usage of a machine by an operator includes a card containing identity information related to the operator selectively in communication with an access device and a first server is in communication with the access device. The identity information is communicated to the access device. The first server includes training information for at least one operator and at least one training certificate. Identity information is communicated to the first server from the access device and the first server compares the identity information to the training information to identify whether the operator has a training certificate for the selected machine. The first server communicates to the access device that the operator does or does not have a training certificate for the selected machine. The access device permits instruction from the operator to the machine when the operator does have a training certificate for the selected machine.

PRIORITY

This application claims priority as a continuation application of U.S.patent Ser. No. 10/410,443 with the same title and a filing date of Mar.30, 2018 which claims priority to PCT Patent Application NumberPCT/US2016/054612 with the same title and a filing date of Sep. 30, 2016which claims priority to Russian Federation Patent Application Number2015141877 filed on Oct. 1, 2015. All three applications in theirentirety are incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to safety devices for controlling accessto and use of hazardous machinery and equipment. More specifically, thedisclosure relates to hazardous machinery access controls activated byaccess control cards issued to users of such machinery and equipment.

Equipment and machinery located, e.g., in a manufacturing facility, canbe hazardous to personnel in the area proximate the equipment andmachinery. Using machinery or equipment with inadequate training or withinadequate control over access to the equipment can result in injury tothe user or other personnel, damage to the equipment, harm to businessreputation of the equipment's owner or controlling entity,non-productive time due to incident investigation or equipment damage,and, in extreme cases, loss of life.

It would be helpful to have a system for controlling access to and useof hazardous equipment and machinery so that only suitably trainedindividuals are able to use the equipment and machinery.

SUMMARY

In one aspect, the disclosure is generally related to a system forcontrolling usage of a machine by a human operator. The system includesan access control card containing identity information related to theoperator, an access control device in signal communication with anoperating control of a selected machine and selectively in communicationwith the access control card and an access control computer incommunication with the access control device. The identity informationis communicated from the access control card to the access controldevice. The access control computer include identity information for atleast one human operator. Identity information from the access controlcard is communicated to the access control card from the access controldevice and then to the access control computer. The access controlcomputer compares the identity information from the access control cardto stored identity information to identify whether the human operatoridentity information is consistent with the required qualifications tooperate the selected machine. The access control computer communicatesto the access control device that the human operator is or is notauthorized to operate the selected machine. The access control devicepermits control instruction from the human operator to the machine whenthe operator is determined to be qualified to operate the selectedmachine.

In another aspect, the present disclosure is related to a method forrestricting usage of a machine to authorized human operator(s). Themethod includes entering into or placing proximate an access controldevice associated with a selected machine an access control cardincluding identity information for a human operator. The method furtherincludes communicating the identity information from the access controlcard to the access control device and from the access control device toan access control computer. Identity information for the operator storedon the server is compared to the identity information communicated fromthe access control card. The result of the comparison is communicated tothe access control device. The access control device permits theoperator to operate the selected machine when the comparisoncommunicated indicates the operator is currently authorized to operatethe selected machine or restricts the operator from operating theselected machine when the comparison indicates the operator is notcurrently authorized to operate the machine.

Other aspects and advantages will be apparent from the followingdescription and the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an example system according to the presentdisclosure.

FIGS. 2A and 2B show an example embodiment of a remote control for amachine having an access control device and an access control cardaccording to the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 shows an example embodiment of a display showing machines in useand the operators have access thereto.

FIG. 4 shows an example data input display to enable calculation ofrelevant usage information for each of a plurality of operated machines.

FIG. 5 shows an example embodiment of a display screen for accumulatedoperating data for a specific machine and is operators.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, the present disclosure relates to a system 100 forcontrolling or restricting usage of or access to one or more machines120 by one or more human operators. Each human operator who isauthorized use a particular machine 120 may have assigned to him anaccess control card (102A in FIG. 2A), such as a smart card (having, forexample, an embedded electrically erasable programmable read-only memorychip—EEPROM), a magnetic data recording strip, a bar code or a radiofrequency identification (RFID) element. The access control card (102Ain FIG. 2A) contains certain identifying information related to theparticular human operator. The access control card (102A in FIG. 2A)may, for example, be embedded in or be part of an employeeidentification badge or similar instrument. Information encoded on theaccess control card (102A in FIG. 2A) relates to the human operator byincluding information such as, for example and without limitation, thename of the person and a unique identifier, such as an employee number,for example, as well as data concerning any machine or equipmentoperation training and/or qualification and the effective dates of suchtraining and/or qualification. Such information will hereafter bereferred to as “identity information.” The access control card (102A inFIG. 2) may include the identity information in such a way that it iselectronically readable by another device, to be explained further withreference to FIG. 2A.

Example devices for reading the identity information from the accesscontrol card (102A in FIG. 2) may include an access control module 102Bin signal communication with an operator control device 102. Theoperator control device 102 may be a control for operating an associatedmachine 120. The operator control device is in signal communication witha respective machine 120 or equipment to be controlled by a humanoperator. Signal communication between the operator control device 102and the machine 120 or equipment may be wireless as shown in FIG. 1,e.g., using communication protocol such as IEEE standard 802.11n or802.11ac or other radio communication channel. In some embodiments, theoperator control device 102 may communicate with the machine 120 using alow power radio frequency communication, for example and withoutlimitation a multichannel 433 MHz bi-directional radio system. In otherembodiments, communication between the operator control device 102 andthe machine 120 may be conducted over wires, e.g., a CATS or CAT6Ethernet cable.

A human operator attempting to gain access to a particular machine 120for use in the operator's job duties will cause the access control card(102A in FIG. 2A) to communicate with the access control device 102Bassociated with or in signal communication with a respective operatorcontrol device 102 to enable control of the specific machine 120. Insome embodiments, the access control device 102B may be in signalcommunication directly with an access control computer 104, to beexplained further below.

In an example embodiment, the access control device 102B may comprise acard reader 103C which is configured to interrogate information storedon the access control card (102A in FIG. 2A) inserted into or placedproximate the card reader 103C. A controller 103B decodes andcommunicates information from the interrogated access control card (102Ain FIG. 2A) to a radio modem 103A. The radio modem 103A may be incommunication with a corresponding radio modem 104A in an access controlcomputer 104 (which may be a server or other general purposeprogrammable computer).

Referring to FIG. 2A, interrogation of the access control card 102A maybe performed, for example, by inserting or placing the access controlcard 102A into or in proximity to the access control device 102B orsimilar interface that may be associated with the machine or equipmentoperator control device 102. The access control device 102B may includean electronic mechanism (see 103A, 103B, 103C in FIG. 1) for reading theaccess control card 102A presented by the human operator. The structureof such mechanism will be related to the type of identity informationstored on the access control card 102A. FIG. 2B shows a human operatorusing the operator control device 102 having its access control device102B attached thereto.

Referring once again to FIG. 1, the access control device 102B mayinclude the above described card reader 103C, e.g., a receiver forreceiving (e.g., magnetic data strip reader or RFID interrogationelement) or a reader for reading (e.g., a barcode reader) the identityinformation from the access control card (102A in FIG. 1) and atransmitter for transmitting the information obtained from the accesscontrol card (102A in FIG. 1) to the access control computer 104, e.g.,a first server. Transmission of the identity information may be madewirelessly using any suitable form of radio communication, including,without limitation, a 433 MHz multichannel two-way radio channel, or maybe made using a wired communication channel. The access control device102B if so configured may require little power to operate, such asbetween about 1.5 and 3.6 V and may be powered using, for example, alocal battery for wireless communication embodiments. In someembodiments, communication between the access control device 102B, theoperator control device 102 and the machine 120 may be performed by hardwiring, for example, into the particular machine 120 or equipment to beoperated.

Referring once again to FIG. 1, the access control computer (firstserver) 104 may comprise access to externally stored or internallystored identity information for at least one human operator, or for aplurality of specific human operators at a particular equipment ormachinery physical location. The identity information included on theaccess control computer (first server) 104 may comprise informationrelated to the training status for each human operator. For example,training status may include each machine 120 that a particular humanoperator has certified training to operate and the start and end datesfor which such certified training is valid. Training status for eachhuman operator may comprise corresponding training information for morethan one machine 120. The access control computer 104 may comprise aclock 104E for timing operations performed by the central processor104B. The access control computer (first server) 104 may include anyform of data storage and retrieval device 104D, e.g., an external memoryor hard drive where the identity information for each human operator isstored and can be interrogated by the access control computer (firstserver) 104. The processor 104B in the data storage and access controlcomputer 104 is operable to interrogate stored training information onrequest from the access control computer 104 for each human operator whopresents an access control card (102A in FIG. 2) to an access controldevice 102B. If the human operator identity information is valid withrespect to operation of the particular machine 120, an access approvalsignal or message may be communicated from access control computer(first server) 104 to the particular access control device 102B using,for example and without limitation, a radio modem 104A in wirelesscommunication with the access control device 102B. The access controldevice 102B may receive an access approval signal or message from theaccess control computer 104 and then enables operation of the specificmachine 120 by the specific human operator using the relevant operatorcontrol device 102.

In some embodiments, enabling control of the specific machine 120 maycomprise the specific machine 120 being connected to an electric powersupply by the access control device 102B or by the access controlcomputer (first server) 104. In some embodiments, the particular accesscontrol device 102B associated with the corresponding operator controldevice 102 may be activated to enable control of the particular machine120 by the particular human operator or any other human operator havingvalid stored identity information by causing the access control device102B to enable or activate the machine operator control device 102. Ifthe identity information is not valid with respect to the particularmachine 120, the access control computer (first server) 104 may not sendany approval signal or message and the machine 120 and/or the associatedoperator control device 102 will not be activated Thus, if the humanoperator's access control card 102A has valid identity information toauthorize use of the particular machine 120, then the access controldevice 102B will be activated by the access control computer (firstserver) 104 to permit the human operator to use the particular machine120. If, on the other hand, the human operator's access control card102A does not have valid identity information to enable the humanoperator to use the particular machine 120, then the access controldevice 102B prevents operation of the particular machine 120, e.g., bynot enabling the machine operator control 102 or the access controlcomputer 104 may not send a power-up command to the machine or anactivation signal to the machine operator control. Such denial ofoperation may also be effected by having the access control computer(first server) 104 not send an actuation signal or message to therelevant access control device 102B or machine operator control 102.

The processor 104B associated with the access control computer (firstserver) 104 may monitor at least one parameter of the selected machine120. Examples of machine parameters to be monitored include operatinghours, the identity of the human operator who operated the particularmachine, machine loads, machine temperatures, etc. Such parameters maybe measured by one or more sensors 121 associated with each machine 120.The sensors 121 may be in signal communication with the processor 104Beither by a wired signal channel (e.g., Ethernet, RS-232 serialconnection, USB connection) or by a wireless channel, e.g., IEEE 802.11nor 802.11ac standard wireless channel.

A computer display or monitor 106B may also be in signal communicationwith a monitoring computer 106. The monitoring computer 106 may be insignal communication with the access control computer, for example, byserial connection such as RS-232 or USB. The monitor 106B may displaysome or all of the identity information, such as an operator name, andthe particular machine when that operator is permitted to operate theparticular machine 120. The display 106B may also display the one ormore measured parameters for one or more specific machines 120.

The machine(s) 120 may be, for example, any machine used inmanufacturing. Examples of such machines include, without limiting thescope of the present disclosure, a heating oven, a forklift, an overheadcrane, a break out machine, grinding machine, shock machine, and/or akey box. Other examples of machines may include presses, lathes,injection molding machines, fastening equipment, etc.

The monitoring computer 106 may be in signal communication with a remotedata storage computer or server 105. Machine parameters and identityinformation may be communicated to the remote data storage server 105from the monitoring computer 106, e.g., using wireless communicationdevices 105A, 106A, respectively. The wireless communication devices maybe radio communication devices using, for example, IEEE standard 802.11nor 802.11ac communication protocol. The remote server 105 may include aprocessor (not shown separately) that can perform analysis, e.g.,statistical analysis, on the measured machine parameters and communicatethe analysis results to a computer in or associated with the monitoringcomputer 106. Communication may also be performed using Ethernet cable,RS-232 serial cable, USB connection wired channel or otherwisecommunicated using any form of wired or wireless signal communicationchannel.

Signal output from the various sensors 121 associated with each machine120 may be input to the access control computer 104 for local processingtherein or for communication to the monitoring computer 106 and/orremote server 105.

A method for restricting usage of a machine by a human operator includesinitiating signal communication between an access control device 102B ona selected machine 120 and an access control card 102A in the possessionof any human operator intending to use the selected machine 120. Theaccess control card 102A includes identity information related to thehuman operator, such as a name and/or employee number. The humanoperator selectively presents the access control card 102A to the accessdevice 102B on the selected machine 120 when the human operator is readyto use the machine 120. The human operator will place the access controlcard 102A on or near the access control device 102B such that the accesscontrol card 102A may be interrogated by the access control device 102B.

Identity information stored on the access control card 102A presented bythe human operator is communicated to the access control device 102B.The identity information is then communicated from the access controldevice 102B to an access control computer (first server) 106. Theidentity information may be communicated using any suitable wired orwireless communication technique, including, without limitation, radiofrequency such as multichannel 433 MHz radio.

Identity information related to the training status of each operator foreach machine in a particular location may be provided to the accesscontrol computer (first server) 104. The first server 104 may include aprocessor 104B capable of interrogating identity information anddetermining whether the identity information is valid for the selectedmachine 120 and the particular human operator. While the above describedembodiment has identity information stored on a local data storagedevice 104D, some or all of the same identity information may be storedon the access control card 102A.

If the operator has identity information that is valid, then the accesscontrol computer (first server) 104 communicates via wired or wirelessconnection to the access control device 102B that the operator may usethe selected machine or equipment. If the operator's identityinformation is invalid, e.g., the human operator has not successfullycompleted training for the specific machine 120 or the training isout-of-date, then the access control computer (first server) 104 maycommunicate an access authorization signal using wired or wirelesscommunication to the access control device 102B that the human operatoris not authorized to operate the selected machine 120 and access to suchmachine 120 is not enabled by the access control device 102B. In otherembodiments, an access approval signal may simply not be communicated tothe access control device 102B by the first server 106 when the identityinformation on the access control card 102A is not valid to enableoperation of the specific machine.

Information including certain identity information of the operator, suchas an operator name, and the selected machine may be displayed by amonitor 106B in signal communication with the monitoring computer 106.

Selected equipment may include a control device 102 configured tooperate an associated machine 120. When a human operator activates thecontrol device 102 of the selected machine by using the access controlcard 102A, the identity information stored on the access control card102A may be sent to the access control computer (first server) 104 e.g.,by radio communication or wired communication. The access controlcomputer (first server) 104 validates the identity information byinterrogating the data storage and retrieval device 104D to enableactivating the machine or equipment by the specific human operator. Ifthe identity information is valid, the access control computer (firstserver) 104 may send an activation signal or message e.g., through theradio or wired signal communication channel to enable the human operatorto activate the specific machine or equipment. Some of the identityinformation and machine operating parameters may be displayed on themonitor 106B and sent to the remote server 105 for analysis, e.g., timesof use of each machine 120, name of operator of each machine 120, andany of a number of sensor-derived machine operating parameters. In someembodiments, the functions of the access control computer 104 and themonitoring computer 106 may be performed by the same computer and/orprocessor.

The described system 100 may facilitate confirming training statuses ofindividual human operators on all machines or equipment through theidentity information associated with each access control card 102A,making it unnecessary for the human operator to surrender the accesscontrol card 102A when, for example, training has expired or the humanoperator is no longer provided access to the physical location of themachine(s) such as on termination of employment or transfer of the humanoperator to a different facility. Parameters that may be monitored forthe machine(s) or equipment may include the equipment name oridentification number, location, time in use, human operators using suchequipment, as well as operational data. Such data may be communicated tothe remote server 105 and real time analysis may be performed. Suchanalysis may include how efficiently each human operator operates eachrespective machine 120, and the amount of time each operator uses eachmachine 120. Attempts to gain access to a specific machine 120 by anoperator not having correct identifying information may be recorded andcommunicated (e.g., wirelessly) to a remote system operator to identifyinappropriate human operator behavior, or the presence of anunauthorized person attempting to gain access to operation of a specificmachine 120.

The system 100 may be programmed (e.g., in access control computer 106)such that any initial safety controls are satisfied prior to permittinga human operator to operate a selected machine. 120 One such example ofthis type of restricted access is that the system 100 would confirm thata daily crane check operation was performed prior to permitting anyoperator to use a crane. A priori safety or pre-use inspection recordsmay be associated with enabling operation of any other machine 120 in asimilar manner.

The system 100 may display the selected machine 120 and the operator'sname using such selected machine on the monitor 106B. Such operation canprevent attempts by another operator to activate a selected machine 120without an access control card 102A.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the display 106B. The display in FIG. 3 showseach machine 110, the operator 112 who has gained access to any one ormore machines including an image 114 of the particular operator. In thisway, a system supervisor can readily determine which machines are in useand by which human operators.

FIG. 4 shows an example input display 116 to the data analysis computer(105 in FIG. 1) wherein specific machines, times of operation and othercalculated operating information may be requested in certain forms,e.g., histograms or graphs.

FIG. 5 shows example machine operation parameters obtained from theremote server (105 in FIG. 1) that may be displayed 118 in bar graph andhistogram forms, as non-limiting examples. Any of the measurements madeby the respective sensors (121 in FIG. 1) may displayed incorrespondence with the times at which each authorized human operatoruses the specific machine (120 in FIG. 1) so that how well each humanoperator controls each respective machine (120 in FIG. 1) may bedisplayed. Identity information, for example, imminent expiration of acertain human operator's qualifying training, may be displayed by theanalysis computer or the access control computer so that the systemsupervisor may be able to take corrective action (e.g., schedulingqualifying training) with respect to such human operator.

While the claimed subject matter has been described with respect to alimited number of embodiments, those skilled in the art, having benefitof this disclosure, will appreciate that other embodiments can bedevised which do not depart from the scope of the claimed subject matteras disclosed herein. Accordingly, the scope of the claimed subjectmatter should be limited only by the attached claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for controlling usage of a machine by ahuman operator comprising: a card containing identity informationrelated to the human operator; an access control device in communicationwith the card, wherein the access control device communicates with theidentity information and is in signal communication with a machinecomprising operator control; an access control computer in communicationwith the access control device, wherein the access control computer isin signal communication with a data storage device having human operatormachine operation control information; wherein identity information iscommunicated to the access control computer from the access controldevice and the access control computer compares the identity informationto the machine operation control information; wherein the access controlcomputer performs at least one of (i) communicates to the access controldevice that the human operator is enabled to operate the machine, (ii)communicates to the access control device that the human operator isdenied access to operate the machine and (iii) does not communicate tothe access control device wherein the human operator is denied access tooperate the machine.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising acomputer display to display the identity information and a machineidentifier when the human operator is enabled to operate the machine. 3.The system of claim 1, wherein the access control device comprises abattery, wherein the battery is used to power the access control device.4. The system of claim 1, wherein the card comprises at least one of asmart card having at least one of an embedded electrically erasableprogrammable read-only memory chip, a magnetic data recording strip, abar code, and a radio frequency identification (RFID) element andwherein the access control device comprises a data reader correspondingto and configured to extract identity information from the at least oneof an embedded electrically erasable programmable read-only memory chip,a magnetic data recording strip, a bar code, and a radio frequencyidentification (RFID) element.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein theaccess control computer monitors at least one machine operatingparameter during operation of the machine.
 6. The system of claim 5,further comprising a data analysis computer in signal communication withthe access control computer, wherein the access control computercommunicates identity information and the monitored machine operatingparameter to the data analysis computer.
 7. The system of claim 6,wherein the data analysis computer calculates an analysis based on theat least one monitored parameter.
 8. The system of claim 7, wherein thecalculated analysis is correlated with the identity information.
 9. Thesystem of claim 8, wherein the access control computer is in signalcommunication with a plurality of access control devices, each accesscontrol device in signal communication with a respective machineoperating control.
 10. The system of claim 1, wherein the machinecomprises at least one of a heating oven, a forklift, an overhead crane,a break out machine, and a key box.
 11. A method for controlling use ofa machine by a human operator comprising: the human operator presentinga card to an access control device associated with a machine operatorcontrol configured to operate a respective machine, the card comprisingidentity information thereon corresponding to the human operator;communicating the identity information from the card to the accesscontrol device; communicating the identity information from the accesscontrol device to an access control computer; comparing the identityinformation to qualification criteria accessible by the access controlcomputer, the qualification criteria related to operating the machine;and at least one of (i) communicating from the access control computerto the machine that the human operator is enabled to operate themachine, (ii) communicating from the access control computer to themachine that the human operator is denied access to operate the machineand (iii) not communicating to the machine wherein the human operator isdenied access to operate the machine.
 12. The method of claim 11,wherein the card comprises at least one of a smart card having at leastone of an embedded electrically erasable programmable read-only memorychip, a magnetic data recording strip, a bar code, and a radio frequencyidentification (RFID) element and wherein the access control devicecomprises a data reader corresponding to and configured to extractidentity information from the at least one of an embedded electricallyerasable programmable read-only memory chip, a magnetic data recordingstrip, a bar code, and a radio frequency identification (RFID) element.13. The method of claim 11, further comprising monitoring at least onemachine operating parameter during operation of the machine.
 14. Themethod of claim 13, further comprising causing the monitored machineoperating parameter to be correlated to the human operator.
 15. Themethod of claim 13, further comprising analyzing the at least onemachine operating parameter.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein thecalculated analysis is correlated with the identity information.
 17. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the respective machine comprises at leastone of a heating oven, a forklift, an overhead crane, a break outmachine, and a key box.
 18. The method of claim 11, further comprising:each of a plurality of human operators presenting a respective card toone of a plurality of access control devices each associated with arespective machine operator control configured to operate a respectivemachine, each card comprising identity information thereon correspondingto one of the plurality of human operators; communicating the identityinformation from each card to the respective access control device;communicating the identity information from the respective accesscontrol device to an access control computer; comparing the identityinformation from each card to qualification criteria accessible by theaccess control computer, the qualification criteria related to requiredqualifications to operate each machine; and at least one of (i)communicating from the access control computer to the respective accesscontrol device that the respective human operator is enabled to operatethe respective machine, (ii) communicating from the access controlcomputer to the respective machine that the respective human operator isdenied access to operate the respective machine and (iii) notcommunicating to the access control device wherein the respective humanoperator is denied access to operate the respective machine.
 19. Themethod of claim 11, further comprising analyzing at least one machineoperating parameter.
 20. The method of claim 19, wherein the analysis iscorrelated with the identity information.